2015 is already shaping up to be a busy year for HR professionals. Recent reports indicate that 36% of employers plan to increase their full-time staff this year. That number is up 12% from last year!
Does your contact center have plans to staff up this year? Running a contact center comes with a number of challenges, and hiring and recruiting is at the top of the list. If you’d like to make the process less daunting, here are 3 tips for smarter hiring and recruiting in 2015.
1. Social Media is Your Friend.
In a recent #ICMIchat, Nate Brown (@CustomerIsFirst) put it this way: fish where the fish are.
Studies show that 14.4 million Americans have used social media to search for a job, with 29% citing social media as their primary tool for searching. If you don’t have a social media recruiting strategy in place you are missing out on some of the best and brightest talent.
Utilize Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more to post job openings, share successes, and let your company culture shine. Your potential employees are interviewing you, too. They are checking you out on social media, so make sure you’re not just there, but actively putting your best foot forward.
2. Don’t be Afraid to Try Video
Being on video can feel awkward, or even scary. Not everyone is comfortable in front of the camera, but sometime it’s good to step out of your comfort zone! If you don’t think video belongs in the hiring process, think again.
Video interviews are a great option for companies looking to hire remote employees, but videos are also a powerful tool in the recruiting process. What better way to demonstrate your company culture than through the use of stories?
YouTube reports 4 billion video views each day, so chances are great that your prospective hires are spending time there. You can ensure that they find you by including links to your YouTube videos on your career webpage and in job postings. It doesn’t hurt to share your videos on other social networks, either.
Be creative—show potential employees what it’s like in your office, tell them what your company values, and why it’s a great place to work. Looking for a little inspiration? Here’s a fun example from the folks at Shopify.
Does your company have a recruiting video? I’d love to see it, so please share in the comments.
3. Make Employee Engagement a Priority
Social media and video are both great recruiting tools, but the most valuable tool you have is your current employees. Be honest. How many of your employees would recommend your workplace to a friend?
Creating brand ambassadors starts with engagement. Show your employees how important they are to the team. Solicit their feedback and ideas, then listen and act on them. Be transparent, and respectful. Trust your employees to do great work, and nine times out ten they will.
Empower your team with the tools and resources they need to be company advocates, and encourage them to share job opportunities with their personal and professional networks. Make it easy! Provide sample tweets, emails, and videos they can use when sharing job openings.
Bonus: studies show that employee referrals have greater job satisfaction and stay longer at companies.
Does your contact center have a plan in place to recruit the best talent in 2015? For more tips and ideas, check out these articles and infographics on successful hiring in the contact center.
Erica is the Community Specialist at ICMI. With a background in marketing, public relations, and social media, she brings more than six years of community management experience to ICMI, and is particularly passionate about the convergence of marketing and customer service.
Erica graduated Cum Laude from Campbell University in North Carolina. In her free time she enjoys traveling, watching sports, attending concerts, and drinking coffee. She’s also a self-professed Twitter addict. Follow her on Twitter: @ens0204.
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